The government has assured sufficient state buses for commuters on Wednesday, the day a joint forum of trade unions has called a strike or Bharat Bandh.

Arrangements have been made to run additional vessels on the Hooghly, transport department officials said on Tuesday.

Managers of depots of all state-run transport corporations — the Calcutta State Transport Corporation, Calcutta Tramways Corporation and West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation — have been instructed to make arrangements so an additional fleet of buses can be made available on Wednesday.

A letter to all senior officers of the department said that depot staff will have to remain prepared to run buses on additional shifts if the situation demands. The leaves of all bus drivers, conductors and maintenance staff have been cancelled.

"A control room has been set up, and it will be operational from 6am," an official of the department said.

The state government has opposed the bandh called by a platform of trade unions.

On Tuesday, the government issued a notification saying no state government employee will be allowed to skip office or take a half-day leave.

"We have had rounds of talks with private bus and minibus operators, and they have assured that there will be adequate buses on the roads on Wednesday," an official at Nabanna.

A section of app-cab owners said they would work as usual, unless the situation takes a turn for the worse, they will not withdraw their fleet.

A section of taxi operators, affiliated to Citu and AITUC, said they will remain off the roads.

Kolkata Police said there will be sufficient deployment of forces to ensure no one is forcibly stopped from attending office or a place of work on Wednesday.

"Additional police deployments will be made at important intersections and strategic points where commuters generally gather for their daily travel," an officer of Kolkata Police said.

Union leaders of several private bus routes said they have instructed staff to run buses normally on Wednesday.